whitehouse.gov- Weekly Address: A Conversation About Addiction

5/16/2016

In this week's address, Grammy Award-winning artist Macklemore joined President Obama to discuss a disease that affects far too many Americans: addiction. Macklemore opened up about his own experience, his life in recovery, and the loss of a friend who overdosed on prescription drugs at a young age – emphasizing that substance use disorder affects people from all walks of life.

To underscore the importance of Macklemore's story, the President noted that we can help those suffering in private by making the conversation public, and we should do everything we can to make treatment available to everyone who needs it. While the House of Representatives passed several bills on opioids this week, without more funding to expand treatment, these bills will not be enough to provide Americans the help they need. President Obama said there is hope, and that when we treat substance use disorder as the public health problem it is, more people will get the help they need.

If you are looking for treatment in your area, call 1-800-662-HELP.

Addiction is like any other disease – it doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care what color you are, whether you’re a guy or a girl, rich or poor, whether you live in the inner-city, a suburb, or rural America. This doesn’t just happen to other people’s kids or in some other neighborhood. It can happen to any of us.

Award-winning Hip Hop Artist Macklemore

Every day we lose more Americans to this devastating disease. And every day that passes without Congressional action on funding to support the treatment needs of those suffering from opioid use disorders is a missed opportunity to save lives.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Millions of Americans are in recovery from opioid and other substance use disorders because they got the treatment and care they needed. That’s why the President continue to call on Congress to provide the resources to ensure that every American who wants treatment can get it and start the road to recovery.